Based on Sunday’s game, Philadelphia Phillies outfield prospect Darin Ruf may be ready to break out of an early-season slump. Against the Louisville Bats, Ruf collected two home runs, two doubles, five RBIs and scored three runs. In one game, he raised his total bases from 24 to 36.
Down on the Phillies Triple-A farm in the Lehigh Valley, the first three weeks of the season have not been kind to Ruf. However, slow starts aren’t new to him.
Only nine of his 80 Minor League home runs have come during the month of April, and the three long balls he’s hit this April represent a career record for the month.
Expectations are high for Ruf considering the numbers he fashioned in 2012. As a rookie at Double-A Reading last year, he put up outstanding statistics. Not only did he break Ryan Howard‘s single-season home run record, but he led the Eastern League with 104 RBIs and 61 extra-base hits.
Nicknamed “Babe Ruf” by his Reading teammates, Ruf was named MVP and Rookie of the Year. After being called-up by the Phillies, he continued to demonstrate good offensive power by hitting .333 with three home runs and 10 RBIs in 12 games.
Ruff was drafted as a first baseman out of Creighton University in 2008. It’s a position he feels comfortable playing, but his future with the Phillies rests on his ability to play left field.
Playing first base doesn’t seem to be an option for Ruff. For the next several years, assuming he stays healthy, Howard’s name will appear on manager Charlie Manuel‘s lineup card at that position. If Ruff wants an earlier entrance to the majors, his calling will be somewhere other than first base.
Interestingly in Sunday’s game, Ruf drove in Delmon Young, who is on official rehab assignment. Young is recovering from microfracture surgery on his right ankle and is being prepped to take over the starting right field position sometime between now and May 11.
If for some reason Young fails to prove himself in the outfield, there are other options for the Phillies, including the current duo of John Mayberry, Jr. and Laynce Nix.
And should none of the three impress with their play, the Lehigh Valley IronPigs have a guy in Darin Ruf who may be the best solution of all.
